DFID’s oversight of the EU’s aid to low-income countries
The EU is the world’s second-largest aid donor. In this review of DFID’s oversight of the UK’s contributions to EU aid – around £1.4 billion a year, 16% of DFID’s total aid spending – we have focused on the impact of EU aid in low-income countries.
Summary
We published this review on the Department of International Development’s (DFID) oversight of the EU’s aid to low-income countries in December 2012. We awarded an amber-red score and made four recommendations. The follow-up for this review was published in June 2014.
The EU is the world’s second-largest aid donor after the United States, providing aid to more than 150 countries. The UK’s contributions to the EU for aid expenditure were approximately £1.4 billion a year at the time of writing, 16% of DFID’s total aid spending. The majority of the funding, nearly 70%, was part of the UK’s share of the EU’s budget and so not discretionary.